Tarnished Gold
chapter 4
by M.E.
Tarnished Gold
By: M.E. (Magnificent Entity)
(manda_hunter@yahoo.com)
Part Four: Ginshine
When Miku awoke, she was lying on a western style bed, which was strange, because she slept on a futon.
Struggling, she sat up, and took in her surroundings. She was in a neatly kept room, other then the bed she was on,
the only other pieces of furniture consisted of a desk, a chair, and a small chest of drawers. Shuuichi sat next to
the bed in the chair, reading a textbook. "Where am I...? Smiling, Shuuichi closed the book and put it on the floor
beside him. "You're in my room. Are you feeling okay?" Though her head was still foggy, Miku was starting to
remember what had happened. "Why am I here?"
Hesitating for a moment, then shrugging, Shuuichi told her that he had found her lying on the sidewalk on his way home. She had been unconscious and it had looked like she was injured, so when he had been unable to wake her, he had brought her home. Glancing down at her leg, she could see that it had been bandaged expertly, and she sighed in relief.
"Thank you so much, Minamino-kun. I must have passed out- it happens to me a lot, you know. As for these scratches," she laughed lightheartedly, hoping that he was buying her act, "would you believe that I was stupid enough to try a shortcut on my way home that went through a berry bramble? I feel like such an idiot."
Nodding slowly, Shuuichi got up, walked over to his desk, and brought over the book bag that was lying there, and handed it to her. She recognized the much-abused bag as her own, and accepted it. "That does sound like a silly thing to do." Watching his face closely, Miku could have sworn she saw him frown slightly, "Are you sure that's what happened- you don't remember anything- strange- happening, do you?"
Eyes widening, Miku sucked in his breath- had he seen the
assassin? She had felt a ki attack from another source right before passing out and had thought that the Reikai
Tantei team rumored to be in the area had come to her rescue... Oh well, if Shuuichi had seen anything of the
fight, if she pretended that nothing had happened, he might think that he had only imagined it. She really didn't
want to get him caught up in all this, she considered him her friend. "No, why? Did you think that aliens abducted me? I
would have thought you to be more intelligent then that, Minamino-kun! I feel much better now," she glanced at her
watch, but didn't really notice the time, it was all part of her act. "Oh! Look at the time! I've got to get home, I
have a big research report on the Black Death due in two weeks and I've barely started on it! Bye!" Jumping to her
feet, she winced inwardly at the slight stinging pain she felt from her leg and her back. Pulling a sweater out of
her bag and shrugging it on to cover the hole in the back of her blouse, she smiled at Shuuichi, then rushed down the
stairs and out the front door.
The dust on the cover of the book in front of me makes me sneeze as I open it. Rubbing my nose I think ruefully that
I should have done this research weeks ago. However, I guess procrastination is a small price to pay when it comes
to making sure that one's disguise is perfect. Which mine is- or rather, was. When I first came to the Ningenkai I had no trouble
fitting in- after I learned the local customs. At that time I still had enough you-ki that I could easily change my form
and masquerade as a ningen. However, time passes, and nowadays you have to have papers and things verifying that
you're who you claim to be. In recent years I've found it easiest to find someone who is about to die from a disease-
or has just died and no one knows it- and take over their life. Since someone who doesn't age is incredible
suspicious, I do allow my illusion to age over time, and so I must "die" as well when I get old
enough. Or when someone starts to suspect that there's something strange about me.
I still remember Namida Miku. She was in the hospital when I found her, slowly dying from some type of hereditary
disease. She was only nine at the time, and it was pretty obvious when I found her that she wasn't going to last much
longer. Though I was nearly exhausted already from changing my form into a mirror image of her as well as absorbing as
many of her memories as possible, she looked so pitiful that I went out of my way
to give her a peaceful death. I won't go into to the details of how hard it was to get
rid of her body.
Her grandmother, who she had lived with because her father had died before she was born in a car accident, and her
mother had already succumbed to the disease that she had been in the hospital with, was overjoyed to see her
"granddaughter" "recover." It made me feel less guilty.
The poor old woman died only four years later, and I was sent to Japan for the rest of my high school education, something that my "father" had wanted me to do.
I wish these assassins would leave me alone. I feel bad
enough about taking Miku's life, I don't want to add to the guilt by destroying it.
She was watching as the girl left the school library. Stepping out of the shadows, she carefully brushed back her
black hair, gray eyes dancing with excitement. Quickly falling into step beside the girl, she spoke pleasantly,
"Miku, right? Hi! I'm Gin, I have Reikishi-sensei for history also, and he told me that you're also doing the
Black Death for your report also, and I was wondering if we might get together sometime and trade info."
Miku grinned at her, "Sure, I'd love to do that. To tell you the truth, I've hardly started." She laughed, "Yeah, me too. I'm awful at getting stuff done- I always procrastinate! Hey- maybe we could start now."
Still smiling, Miku nodded as she walked, "That sounds like a great idea, I really want to get something done with this report. Do you want to come over to my apartment? It's really quiet, and we won't have to worry about be interrupted, I live all alone." "Hey- that's right, you're an exchange student or something, aren't you?"
"Mmhm. All my close relatives are dead, so I got sent away for school," Miku's face took on a sad expression. "Oh," she reached out and slipped her hand into the other girl's hand, squeezing it reassuringly, "I know how that is. I recently lost my older brother and sister."
"I'm so sorry."
"You didn't seem very sorry when you killed them," she growled, her grip on Miku's hand tightening.
Eyes wide, Miku tried to yank away from the other girl's grasp, but was unable to. "What are you talking about-" But the first girl's form had already begun to shimmer as the illusion fell away to reveal a tall, silver-haired youko. Ginshine had stopped walking, and was now pulling Miku into the shadows."But you don't need to apologize or anything, Midorishine and Pinkushine were both idiots, trying to kill you with fancy attacks that could have attracted all kinds of unwanted attention. If they had been smart, they would have realized that all they had to do was suck out the rest of your ki." Smiling, she bowed slightly, still holding on to Miku's hand, "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Ginshine, class one youko assassin, and I will be killing you this evening. If there is anything I can do to make your death more pleasant, please, don't bother me with it."
Glancing at her hand caught in Ginshine's grasp, Miku realized what was happening. Ginshine was ciphering Miku's ki out of her and into her own body. If she looked at the handclasp from the corners of her eyes, she could even see, barely, the soft white glow of the ki transfer.
Panicking, she tugged at her arm, trying to get away, "Let me go! LET ME GO!!" She started to scream, hoping that someone passing by would hear her pleas. "Help! S-she's trying to kill me! HELP!"
Growling, Ginshine stepped forward, her free hand moving to cover Miku's mouth. Miku bit her. "Ow! You little bitch! What's the matter with me trying to kill you? You're a threat to my survival, don't tell me you haven't killed people to ensure your survival- I know you have."
But her excuses were not heard by Miku, who was too busy trying to get free. Jumping up, Miku felt the top of her head connect with Ginshine's chin, causing the youko's head to snap backwards. But Ginshine's grip didn't loosen, so Miku knead her in the stomach, and twisted Ginshine's free arm behind her back, breaking it in the process. The woman let loose another cry of pain.
"I said. Let. Me. Go!" Miku tried to get away again, and this time she felt the youko's grip loosen some. Maybe if she broke the other arm... Or Ginshine's neck- that would work. Heaving herself towards the brick wall next to them, Miku dragged Ginshine with her, then stopped right before she hit the wall. However, still distracted by her broken arm, the woman didn't stop her body in time, and inertia worked its wonders on her.
Miku winced as Ginshine's tall frame hit the wall with a
sickeningly wet smack. Her hand was at last loose, and she stepped backwards, examining the youko, who was already
starting to have bruises form. The woman's left arm lay at a crooked angle, and
blood trickled down from her head where it had hit the sharp edge of the wall. Feeling for a
pulse, Miku sighed, why did they all have to die? Especially Ginshine, who had seemed nice (or was that only
an act- as false as the lies she had spun for Shuuichi?). Miku sighed and continued walking home, she still had a
report to work on.